Soldiers' Tale
by Mr. Mega1423
Summary: Two very skilled soldiers from two different nations are selected amongst many other elite soldiers to fight to receive an operation that would make them into, basically, supersoldiers. Will they go their own ways and go it alone, as they have done before countless times? (Summary could be better, but whatever. Prequel to Amnesia.) Rated T for cursing, violence, the usual.
1. Prologue

Prologue

A vast desert.

Hot, dry, and desolate.

But all was not quiet in this barren landscape.

A firefight was taking place between what appeared to be a group of soldiers against what appeared to be an extremist group.

Amongst the soldiers, one looked strangely different from the rest. Whilst the others wore standard military uniforms, near the back was a young man peeking out from behind cover with a sniper rifle. He wore a red-white cap with the words 'Fortes fortuna iuvat' written on it, a green scarf covering the lower half of his face, a black muscle shirt, red pants, and black shoes. He had jet-black hair and dark blue eyes.

This man squeezed the trigger, and on the other side of the battlefield, an enemy dropped dead.

He took aim, fired again, and yet another dropped dead.

He took aim and fired yet again, but barely missed. The enemies seemed to notice him, and a grenade was chucked his way.

He switched to dual pistols and dove out from beneath his cover before it was obliterated.

Well, if they wanted to draw him out, go out he will.

He burst towards the front line and took cover.

"Ey, Quotation Mark! Get back here!" One of his squadmates yelled, "You're gonna get yourself frickin' killed!"

The man's full name was Quote Axion Mark, so his colleagues nicknamed him after that punctuation mark.

He rolled his eyes.

He jumped from beneath his cover, spun in the air, and squeezed the triggers of his pistols several times, killing several enemies. Seeing the coast clear, he burst forward behind the enemy lines and took cover yet again before chucking a grenade into an enemy encampment.

The coast was clear.

He got up, turned to the soldier who yelled at him, and motioned forward.

"He just gets stranger and stranger," Another soldier muttered to himself.

At the end of the day, the young man sat back, staring at the sky. He got lost in thought, thinking about his job, his colleagues, and what was waiting for him back 'home'.

He'd heard rumours of a floating island with a powerful artifact held within, but he didn't believe them. Not only was that clearly fake, it'd start a third world war. But, he had heard that his country (Canada), the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia created some coalition or whatever, so who knew.

He was startled from his thoughts when a helicopter touched down. Out stepped a sharp dressed man that he assumed was from the government.

The man looked at him.

"Are you Sergeant Marck?" The man asked.

"Who's asking?" He asked quietly.

"The Prime Minister. You've been selected for a very prominent job," The man said, "Are you interested?"

Well, it'd probably be better than being in a stupid desert.

He nodded.

"Good," The man said, then got back in the helicopter. He got up, took his dual pistols with him, and stepped inside the helicopter as well. It took off.

The man turned to him.

"Your superior officers have already been notified," He said, "Most of the details are classified, but you've likely heard rumours of a floating island, correct?"

Quote nodded.

"They are not rumours. There is indeed a floating island in Asia with a powerful artifact held within. It's called the Demon Crown, and this is where you come into play," The man explained, "Many nations have developed drones to go to the island and claim the Crown for themselves, but our country, unsurprisingly, allied with some other countries to destroy it, because it's simply too evil and dangerous to be allowed to exist. This alliance is called the Pacific Rim Coalition. You know what it's named after."

Quote gave the man a look of scepticism.

"To be frank, the robots are poorly-equipped, dangerous, and unintelligent. This is where you come into play. We need very skilled human soldiers to go to the island to destroy the Crown before the robots can destroy the island and take the Crown," The man continued, "However, the island is extremely dangerous, and no one knows what lies within it. Because of this, the countries of the P.R.C. decided to pool much of their money, technology, and resources to perform research. Genetic and cybernetic research."

Quote raised an eyebrow.

"The research was extremely costly and cost well over a trillion dollars, but it is complete. However, the process can only be performed twice. Because of this, you and many other elite soldiers from the P.R.C. will be put through a tournament, and if you win, you recieve the modifications," The man continued, "You'll recieve further debriefing when we arrive."

Quote nodded, then smirked.

Becoming basically a supersoldier? Oh, he's definitely in.

Yeah, he'll have to defeat other soldiers in battle to do it, but he'd probably mop the floor with them.

How bad can it possibly be?


	2. Chapter 1: Complexion

Chapter 1: Complexion

After some time, the helicopter set down at a large complex. It looked like an academy, except the high amount of defenses surrounding it.

He stepped out and was greeted by man in a uniform. He recognized the man as his superior officer.

"You sure took your time," The officer said, "Move it!"

He raised and eyebrow and followed into the main building, where a bunch of other people were standing around, talking, training, etcetera.

He sat near the back until a man stepped into the room and walked over to a microphone. The man looked like some sort of scientist, must be the one heading the project.

"Is this thing turned on?" The man asked, then after hearing his own voice boom across the room, stood up taller, and cleared his throat. "You have all been brought here for a very prestigious purpose. I suppose that you have all already been briefed on the floating island, so I will get to the point. We've developed a procedure that can enhance any of you into superhumans, but it can only be performed twice."

Murmuring amongst the soldiers.

"So, we decided that the best way to decide who would recieve the enhancements would be to make you all fight to see who's best, then give it to the victors. However, we also decided that skill and teamwork is just as important, so you won't be doing this alone," The scientist said.

Quote couldn't believe what he just heard.

He had to find a partner?

He snarled to himself.

There was no action he hated more than socializing, yet he'd basically be forced to do it.

"Yes, you will all be asked to form two-person teams. We will give you time to find a partner before the tournament begins. Exactly two weeks. If you don't have a partner by then, well, you'll have to deal with it," The man stated.

Quote's blood began to boil.

"Details on the enhancements themselves will come later. As for now, your mission is to socialize," The man said, "Get to it."

The man left, and the soldiers began to talk among themselves again.

Quote fumed.

Well, if he was going to get a partner, they'd have to come to him.

He took out his pistol and began to throw and catch it.

Across the room, a young woman with blond hair, sapphire blue eyes, a pink tank top, and red pants was also not pleased by the news. Her name was Curly Brace, for reasons she still doesn't know.

It's not that she didn't _want _to socialize and talk, she was a real chatterbox. It's that... well...

She shook the thought aside and began to walk around and try talking to people.

She was mostly ignored.

She frowned.

Just as she'd expected.

She'd never find a partner like this.

Unless...

Quote noticed a young woman walking around aimlessly trying to talk to people. He smirked and chuckled. He felt some sympathy for her, but something about her peaked his interest. He shrugged it off and returned to flicking the pistol into the air repeatedly.

She looked around the room and saw a young man with a red-white cap, green scarf, black muscle shirt, and red pants sitting near the back, his face obscured by the shadow of his own cap, tossing a pistol in the air.

He was completely alone. Just like her.

She felt some sympathy for him and began to walk toward him. The man looked up and looked at her, and she was stopped by a man in a uniform.

"I don't know exactly who you are, but it would probably be in your best interest to leave him alone. He's not exactly the friendly type," The man advised, "He never speaks, so if he does say anything, it'll probably be to tell you to scram. He seems to have a problem with everyone and everything."

"Well, it's not like anyone else will notice me," She said sadly.

"Hmph. Well, go right ahead," He said.

Quote raised an eyebrow. The woman he'd noticed earlier was approaching him, but was stopped by his superior officer. He was probably telling her to steer clear of him, which he couldn't exactly blame him for doing.

His superior officer backed away, and the young woman walked over to and sat down next to him.

"Hi!" She greeted.

No response.

Trying to find something that he'd may be interested in talking about, she looked around and saw words written on his cap.

"Hey, those words on your cap, that's Latin, right?" She asked.

Yet no response.

Quote was now very interested. She'd just so happened to guess the one thing he enjoyed talking about. Yet, at that moment, nobody else had ever spoken to him about it.

She frowned.

"If I'm bothering you, I can leave," She said.

"Yes."

Well, that was an answer.

"Okay, I'll go," She muttered sadly, then got up.

"About the cap," Quote stated.

"Sorry?" She asked.

"'Fortes fortuna iuvat'. It's a Latin proverb meaning 'fortune favours the brave', and it's my motto," He explained.

"But, you don't mind me being here?" She asked.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't have anything better to do," He grumbled.

How blunt.

She sat down, slightly smiling.

She already knew she liked him.

"So, where are you from?" She asked.

"Canada," He answered.

"Oh, cool! I'm from the United States!" She exclaimed.

"You don't act like it," He grumbled.

"Oh?" She said, and he smirked, then quietly chuckled.

She didn't get his little remark.

"I can't believe there's a floating island, though. With a magic artifact to boot. This sounds like something from a fairy tale," She muttered, "But then again, who's to say this isn't?"

He frowned.

"No," He hissed, "If you knew me, _really _knew me, then you wouldn't be saying that. Fairy tales have 'happy endings'. Well, listen up, girl. I've seen the worst this world has to offer, and I know for a fact that humanity doesn't have a happy ending. This isn't a fairy tale, it's a horror movie."

She visibly reeled from that.

He wouldn't admit it, not even to himself, but he felt guilty for that.

"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," She said quietly.

He waved it off.

"So... what's it like in Canada?" She asked.

"Vague question," He said, "Specify."

"Uhhhh," She mumbled, "I don't know."

"Then you'd have to go there and experience it yourself," He grumbled.

"Is it true that Canadians are all super nice?" She asked.

He turned to her and raised his arms.

"You should know the answer to that by me alone," He muttered.

"So... that's a yes?" She questioned.

He shook his head, grumbled, got up, and stomped off.

He was beyond irritated.

How _oblivious! _Why couldn't she just understand that he wasn't a nice person? Someone that she shouldn't trust? Someone that she should just ignore or judge like everyone else does?

He was assigned his room, and he went to it.

He needed to blow off some steam.

Meanwhile, Curly remained where she was, with a tear at her eyes.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Why did she _always _have to blow her chances with a potential friend?!

Perhaps she was just destined to be alone...

Perhaps they were _both _destined to be alone.


	3. Chapter 2: Epiphany

Chapter 2: Epiphany

**A/N: This prequel or whatever ain't gonna be very long. Probably like 10-15 chapters. Sequel will be about the same length. **

Quote sat still in his room deep in thought for a while. He needed time to vent his frustration.

Eventually, he decided to go to the main area, and realized that people were eating dinner.

Had he really spent that long sitting in his room?

He shook his head and got some food. He was surprised to see a luxurious buffet waiting for him instead of instant or canned foods.

Like, it was a project. You wouldn't expect to see a buffet fit for a king at a simple project, would you?

But then again, it was an international research project with a budget of over a trillion dollars.

He got some food and sat down.

Someone sat down at the opposite end of where he was sitting, and he suppressed a sigh.

The same girl from earlier.

"Hello again," Curly greeted timidly, and got no response. She scratched her head. "Again, if I'm bothering you, I can go somewhere else," She stated.

He sighed again, waved dismissingly, and smirked.

That was enough of an answer for her. She smiled.

"Bet you weren't expecting _that_, eh?" She asked, motioning over to the buffet.

He nodded.

"It's definitely unlike anything _I've _ever seen," He muttered.

"Yeah, me too. I'm Curly, by the way. Curly Brace," She said.

"Isn't that a punctuation mark?" He asked.

"Yeah, I don't know why my parents named me that," She muttered, "What's your name?"

"Name's Quote," He stated. She smiled.

"I like that name. Also, sorry about what I said earlier, I wasn't trying to offend you," She said timidly.

"It's fine," He muttered, "I understand what you were trying to do. But, I do want to say something."

"What's that?" She asked.

He looked up, revealing his dark blue eyes to her for the first time. His face was twisted into a slight frown, and he stared right at her.

"If you honestly think I'm truly friendly, or a good person, or anything like that, you're terribly mistaken," He grumbled, then looked down and smirked menacingly. "I'm as bad as it can get," He stated.

She shook her head.

"I wouldn't say that," Curly disagreed.

"You wouldn't?" He asked, and she nodded.

He smirked again.

"Then you don't know what you're talking about," He muttered

She frowned.

"But you've been nice to me," She countered, "You're literally the only person I've met who actually converses with me and doesn't brush me off."

He stopped.

Someone as lively and energetic as her? With no friends?

No, that surely couldn't be right.

"That's... kind of sad," He stated.

"I... guess so," She said.

Wait a minute...

Of all the people she talked to, she talked to him _last._

"I suppose that's why you came to me, then. I was your last choice, your only option left. I should've known that you only talked to me because there was literally no one else you could've talked to," He hissed.

She became visibly alarmed.

"Nononono! That's... no! I didn't..." She stammered.

"You didn't what? You didn't think I'd notice or care? If you think I'm going to be fooled into being your sorry excuse of a friend, you're _**VERY **_mistaken! I'm not going to be manipulated!" He barked, barely able to keep himself from yelling.

Tears began to stream down her face.

"I never wanted to manipulate you. I didn't see you at first, because you were at the back sitting in the dark. Look, I-I just wanted a friend, and I thought you needed a friend. I just saw you... alone, like me, and thought you'd be happy to have someone be there for you, or be your friend. Is that really too much to ask? To try to support someone when no one else will?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She was on the brink of breaking down and crying.

His anger vanished instantly.

"I-I... wait, no, I-" He stammered.

"I guess I really have been irritating you by being here. Well, if it bothers you so much, then you won't hear from me ever again," She stated somberly, then got up and walked away.

He was about to run after her, try to do something to fix what he did, but stopped.

He had already done enough.

He looked down at his food. The luxury food that probably would've taken a year's wages to afford.

It didn't appetize him anymore.

In a fit of frustration, he snarled and pushed it off the table.

He put his hands to his forehead and slumped down.

Curly walked to her room slowly, entered, and sat on her bed.

_"If you think I'm going to be fooled into being your sorry excuse of a friend, you're very mistaken!"_

She began sobbing into her hands.

He must've never liked her in the first place.

He must've only been talking to her because he found it entertaining or something mean like that.

The thought made her sob even more.

She thought she'd finally had a friend. Someone who she could trust her back to.

Yet all along it'd been a facade.

Quote didn't feel a reason to stay where he was.

He stomped back to his room and sat down on his bed, clutching his head.

He snarled angrily.

Something was gnawing at him, and he just couldn't figure out what it was.

Could it be Curly?

What he said to her, and how she reacted to it?

He'd probably devastated her.

She was probably sobbing in her room at that very moment.

He fell to his knees, clutching his head even more. His hat fell off.

_**What was WRONG with him?!**_

Why'd he have to go and do that?!

He got up and began to bang his head against a wall.

He stopped and looked at his hat on the ground. He picked it up and read the proverb on the front.

_"Hey, those words on your cap, that's Latin, right?"_

He threw the cap aside and laid down in bed, ignoring the migraine beginning to blossom in his head.

Before, he'd have told himself not to worry about it.

That being alone and whatever was a symbol of strength, and making friends being a sign of weakness. That having to rely on others for support meant that one was too weak to even support themselves.

But now, he realized just how much of an _asshole _he truly was.

Humans were social creatures. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he needed others for support. He needed friends. He needed attachments.

And he could not rely solely on himself for support.

A gun could not fire itself without a wielder to aim and fire it.

A bowling ball could not knock down pins itself without an arm to throw it.

He desperately hoped he could see her again one more time to apologize and make things right.

Even if she never wanted to see him again.

He had to reap what he had sewn.


	4. Chapter 3: Backstory

Chapter 3: Backstory

**A/N: I can't think of very good chapter names. So, uh, yeah.**

The next day, Quote got up and left his room almost immediately.

He had no idea where to go to find Curly.

So, he decided to just go to the main area and see if she showed up.

The entire day was spent waiting for her to show up, and he wondered what he wanted to do while he waited.

He looked around and saw some training dummies, and saw some elongated carbon fiber sticks hanging on the wall next to them.

He guessed they were some sort of training staff.

He grabbed one, twirled it around to get a feel for it, and walked up to a training dummy. He grabbed the staff in both hands and proceeded to jab the dummy with it. He completely lost all sense of himself and began to assault the dummy with the staff furiously, jabbing and whacking it furiously.

He whirled the staff around, causing the ends of it to repeatedly smash into the dummy's head, and he whirled it as fast as he possibly could, then smacked it in the face with the staff one last time.

The dummy's head broke off and rolled away.

He hung up the staff and walked away, ignoring all of the people staring at him.

He sat down at his usual spot and resumed his normal idle practice, flinging his pistol into the air.

Eventually, night fell and everyone left, so he stood up and prepared to go back to his room, and stopped when he saw Curly in front of him, staring in shock at the decapitated dummy.

He walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at seeing him. He smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, hey," She said emotionlessly.

"I... wanted to speak with you," He said nervously.

"What about?" She asked timidly.

She must've still not gotten over what he did.

"I... about... yesterday," He stated somberly.

"What is there to say?" She asked sadly.

He realized that he had never apologized for anything in his life before. Ever.

"I... don't know what came over me. I don't know if I was angry at something and I just snapped for no reason, or what, but I definitely shouldn't have said what I said," He muttered guiltily.

She was surprised.

"What are you trying to say?" She asked.

"I'm... trying to apologize," He said nervously, "I realize now just how much of... of a... well... how much of a complete prick I was being. So, I'm sorry. I really am."

Silence. Curly gave him a look of doubt, which he returned with a look of pure guilt and regret.

A smile crept onto her face, which turned into a full-on grin.

"I knew you couldn't have meant that. There's no way you would've been nice to me if you didn't like me," She exclaimed, "You must've been troubled or something, and I just picked a bad time. You didn't mean it. So, I forgive you."

It was as if a crushing weight was lifted from his shoulders, and the slightest of smiles crept onto his face.

"We're friends, and friends forgive eachother, because that's what friends do," She said happily, and he frowned.

No.

They couldn't be friends, not after that.

He couldn't risk hurting her _again._

He stumbled backward with a somber look on his face, staring at Curly, who became extremely confused, and he turned around and ran off.

"Wait!" She screamed, then ran after him.

He didn't get far before she caught up to him.

He stopped in the middle of a small room. They were the only people there.

He sighed.

"Quote, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I... no. We can't be friends," He stated somberly.

She took a step closer to him.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Did you not hear what I said yesterday? I'm as bad as it gets," He muttered.

"Obviously not, if what you did mattered to you so much!" She yelled.

He began to shake, and he shook his head slowly.

The only way she could possibly understand would be to tell her what he'd told nobody else.

His backstory.

"You don't get it. I was born to a poor, sketchy family. My mother never cared and became an alcoholic after I was born, and my father beat the hell out of me constantly for completely no reason," He stated sadly, "I lived on the streets, as I feared returning home. I learned to keep my mouth shut because opening it only caused something bad to happen, and I learned that I could and should only rely on myself for anything and everything. I adopted the idea that friends and attachments only made one weak. I spent my entire life training to defend myself. That's why I'm such a skilled soldier."

"And?" She asked.

"Some day, shortly after my sixteenth birthday, I finally decided that I had enough of what my father was doing. I returned home, and when he tried to attack me again, I retaliated. I whooped him, and if my mother didn't phone the police I probably would've killed him," He explained desolately,

She didn't know how to respond to that.

He put his hands to his forehead and took a few steps away, then looked over at Curly somberly.

"That's why I'm better off alone. I'm just a worthless piece of shit, just like my parents," He grumbled somberly.

She heard sniffling, and saw him brush something off his face with his arm.

He was beginning to cry.

She did the one thing she felt she could, or should do in that situation. She walked up to him, and when he turned around, she hugged him as hard as she could.

He stumbled backward in complete, utter surprise and was barely able catch him before he could fall.

She buried her head into his shoulder.

"I can tell just by what you did today. _Were_ you a bad person? That I can't judge. But I know how you're acting now. You've been good to me. Yeah, you got mad yesterday, but you apologized. If you do hurt me, which I'd bet my life that you won't, we'll get through it. I like you, Quote, I really do, and you clearly like me. So, please, don't push me away, you'll cause far more harm otherwise," She begged.

Hearing this, he stopped. His hat fell off.

A smile crept onto his face, and soon he was smiling warmly.

He hugged her back, and they remained in a tight hug for what felt like an eternity.

That is, until Quote suddenly let go and ran away.

Curly sighed, and saw something on the ground. She looked down, and saw his red-white cap there.

She picked it up and stared at it before putting it on her own head.

She took it off, smiled sadly, and returned to her room. She'd give it to him tomorrow.

She felt at peace.

Quote returned to his room as well, but he didn't feel so peaceful.

Yes, he was overjoyed that she forgave him, but...

Now he wasn't sure what to do.

Be her friend, or go it alone as he always had done.

Only time would tell what he'd decide.


	5. Chapter 4: Doubt

Chapter 4: Doubt

The next day, Curly woke up and immediately knew she wanted to run into Quote sometime that day.

So, she got up and ran to the main hall.

And run into him she did.

She bolted around a corner, and he just happened to be standing right around the corner, and she collided into him, causing them both to fall down.

They got up and he gave her a look of minor irritation.

"Sorry about that," She said nervously, then pulled out Quote's hat and plonked it on top of his head. His expression remained the same. "It fell off earlier. I thought you'd want it back," She explained.

He nodded slowly.

"Thanks," He said annoyedly, then turned around and walked away.

This worried Curly a lot.

Did he not want to be her friend anymore? Was he just annoyed that she bumped into him? Or was she just reading into it a wrong way and overthinking it?

Did he doubt her still?

She couldn't tell.

But that wouldn't stop her from being extremely worried.

She slowly walked to the main hall.

Meanwhile, Quote was, as she expected, very irritated about what just happened. Yes, he was grateful she gave him his hat back, but if he didn't see her beforehand, he probably would've been alarmed and kicked her in self-defense.

The thought made him cringe and want to pull his hair out.

He got some food, sat down, sighed, and began to eat it slowly.

Yes, perhaps it was better to stay away from her. For her own safety.

But then she'd feel betrayed. Lost. Sad.

Depending on how much she liked him, who knows how she'd react?

He didn't know what to do anymore.

But, he knew he'd stay away from her until he knew what he would do.

Almost as if on cue, Curly walked in and sat down across from him.

He looked up at her and looked back down.

"Are you still mad about me running into you earlier?" She asked irritably.

"I don't hold grudges," He grumbled, "I just want to be alone right now. I need time to think. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but _please, _go away."

Curly was shocked.

'Go away.'

Well, if he really wanted her to go, she'd go.

She said nothing and walked away.

She finally concluded that he didn't want to be friends with her anymore. Maybe he never did in the first place.

She looked down sadly.

She wouldn't cry, not again. She needed to be strong. She was a soldier, after all.

She sighed.

Looked like she was going solo for this tournament.

Quote would've gotten up and chased after her, because he didn't mean to sound so... rude, but decided that he'd probably just make it worse.

Quote's dilemma was such a difficult one that it took him the rest of the time before the tournament to decide what he'd do. As he'd hoped, Curly stayed away from him for this time.

Eventually, the time for partner selection had come. Everyone was seated in the main hall.

Again, the scientist man that spoke the day they came was in the center of the room on a podium with a microphone. The man quickly tapped the mic to test it, and everyone went silent and turned to him.

"The two week deadline has finally passed. We hope you all have gotten some time to know eachother and know who you'll be choosing. If not, well, this is your last chance. If you don't get a partner, then you will be automatically placed with another person or disqualified. The choice is yours," The man stated.

Curly became very angry.

What?

She couldn't do it alone? She'd be forced to go with a stranger? Or even worse, leave?

She began to shake.

Meanwhile, Quote took in this new information without batting an eye.

"When you find your partner, grab their hand and raise your locked hands to the air so we can see you and log it down," The man demanded, "That is all I have to say. Get up and find your partners."

A solitary tear streamed down Curly's face.

Looks like her nightmare was not yet over.

After a few minutes, a shadow loomed slightly over her. She looked up, and she gasped at who she saw.

Quote was there and smiling warmly at her.

He offered his hand to her.

She remained still for a while, unsure of how to respond, then she grinned from ear to ear and took his hand.

She stood up, and they raised their hands, both of them grinning like mad.

More tears fell, and she began to sniffle slightly.

After five minutes, the man spoke again.

"Okay, we have every group marked down. You can sit down now," He said, and they all sat down.

Quote patted Curly's back.

"You were right all along. I don't know what I needed to think about. We're friends... no, partners, and we stick together," He said, "One for all, and all for one."

She sniffled more and wiped the tears from her face.

He became concerned.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I've never been better," She responded gleefully.

"We've got some interesting groups here. First match is tomorrow, and one of the researchers will sponsor a group, acting as a sort of assistant. I, too, will sponsor a group. They will assist the group in ways such as telling them the matchups, assisting with weapons and such, explaining what the project does, and so forth," The man explained, "Also, we'll supply two-bedroom suites instead of your one-bedroom suites upon request, if you want to be in the same room as your partner."

Quote gave a questioning look to Curly.

"Do you want to do that?" She asked.

"Doesn't matter to me," He answered.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I mean, wouldn't it be easier to train and whatever?" She asked. He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, maybe we should."

He nodded.

"I'll go ask about it later," He stated.

Someone tapped Quote on the shoulder. He looked up to see the man from earlier standing next to him.

"Sergeant Marck, Sergeant Brace," The man greeted, "My name is Dr. Sakamoto. I've read through your files, and I already knew I was gonna sponsor you two the day you came here. It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you in person."

"Okay, nice to meet you, too!" Curly exclaimed.

Quote merely nodded in salutation.

"Follow me," Dr. Sakamoto ordered, and they got up and followed him outside to a medium-sized building. Inside was a weapons rack, a shooting gallery, and some training dummies.

"What's this?" Quote asked.

"Your very own private armory, shooting gallery, and training room. That way, you can train without having to worry about your opponents spying on you," The doctor explained, then handed Quote a key, "Use this to get in here. Also, if a rival team gives you grief, merely notify one of the staff and they'll deal with them."

"What's the consequences for interference, sabotage, or harrassment?" Quote asked.

Curly gave him a disapproving look.

"Do you really think that's gonna happen?" She asked.

He turned to her and nodded solemnly.

"I've seen humanity at it's worst. It's a tournament to basically become superhuman. _Somebody _is gonna be overcome by temptation and cheat to try and win this. I just don't know how far they'll truly go to do so," He grumbled.

"Well, it depends on the severity. Simple harrassment, they'll get a stern talking-to and a warning. Like you'd give a child. Now, if the harrassment gets physical, the perpetrating group will be penalized, whether that be having their private armory taken away temporarily, given weaker weaponry, whatever. If it's repeated, we'd threaten to disqualify them, and if it happens yet again we would disqualify them," Dr. Sakamoto explained.

"And what if it gets even worse?" Quote asked.

"Uh, well... if they trespass into another group's private area, they'll be disqualified instantly, as they could have sabotaged something," The doctor explained.

"And if it gets even worse?" Quote muttered.

"Even worse? How so?" The doctor asked.

"Murder," Quote grumbled.

Silence.

"Well, if an attempt is made on someone else's life, then the attempted killer would be arrested on sight," Dr. Sakamoto explained nervously, "I don't think that'll happen, though. This is a high-security installation. No one would dare do somethat that nasty. Also, I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but there will be a morning and evening rollcall now, and after the evening rollcall you must return to your rooms."

They both nodded. It made sense to them.

"Also, didn't you say something about switching to a single room?" Curly asked.

"Oh, yes. Why, are you thinking of getting one?" He asked.

They both nodded.

"Very well, I'll get one set up for you two," The doctor explained, "Anything else?"

They both shook their heads.

"That was very helpful, thank you!" Curly exclaimed, and Dr. Sakamoto nodded.

"Well, then I guess I'd better be going. Tomorrow, I'll explain what the project does to you. But I'll give you its name. We call it the Demigod Serum," He explained, then exited the building.

Quote whistled, clearly impressed.

"What a nice guy," Curly stated

"What a name..." Quote muttered.

"For who? Him, or the research?" Curly asked.

"The research, obviously. If they named it the freaking 'demigod serum' then it must do some incredible things to the human body," He answered.

She smiled at him. He smirked in response.

"So, partner, what do you say we do now?" She asked light-heartedly.

He grinned.

"You know what I want to do," He said contently, then pointed at the wall of weapons. "I wanna try every single one of those."

She nodded slowly, then smiled even more.

"Then what are we waiting for?" She asked, plucking a black assault rifle off of the wall, "Let's get started!"


	6. Chapter 5: First Match

Chapter 5: First Match

They spent an hour testing out every single weapon and questioning what to pick. The weapons shot energy and had a safety feature in which one could change the weapon from firing lethal shots to firing non-lethal shots to not firing at all.

Likely because they wouldn't want people actually dying in these tournaments.

Quote went with dual navy-blue pistols, and Curly took a shiny red machine gun.

Quote was skeptical of her choice.

"You know," He muttered, "You'd be more agile if you went with something lighter."

"I'll be fine. I do best with machine guns and assault rifles and whatever. Why would I pick something I'm not good with?" She countered.

He went silent, nodding slowly.

They left, Quote locking the door on the way out, and then they were immediately greeted by Dr. Sakamoto again.

"Were you in there all this time?" He asked, and they nodded, flashing their weapons. "Ah, I see," He muttered, "Your new room is set up. Here's the keys."

He plopped identical keys into each of their hands.

Quote nodded in appreciation.

"When are we up first?" He asked.

"Tomorrow. The people want to see what you two can really do. Match starts at 10 o'clock sharp," The doctor answered.

Quote raised an eyebrow.

"The people?" Curly asked.

"Oh, yes, the matches will be on television. There's also gonna be two narrators who'll talk over the match like a sports game," He explained.

Quote grinned darkly.

"So the whole world will get to see us mop the floor with the other teams," He said contently, "Hmm. Normally I'd be irritated, but this'll be fun. We'll be the talk of the entire world."

Curly turned to him.

"I don't appreciate your enthusiasm," She state irritably.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I like fighting," He said, trying to defend himself. "Hey, it's not like we're gonna kill anyone," He reassured.

"Well," Dr. Sakamoto muttered, "If the matches take a long enough time, then one of us will announce that you'll be able to switch your weapons to lethal through an intercom. Doing so before the announcement is made will result in forfeiting the match, and if done multiple times, disqualification."

Quote nodded slowly, and Curly frowned.

"So, what happens if someone dies because of a 'fair' lethal shot?" She asked mockingly.

"Uhh, well... I don't know," The doctor said exasperatedly.

"It won't happen," Quote grumbled.

"Hopefully not," Curly said nervously.

"Well, I'll be off. See you two later," Dr. Sakamoto muttered, then walked away.

"Let's go check out our new room!" Curly exclaimed, then ran off.

"Ey! Wait up!" Quote yelled, then ran after her.

Crazy woman. One second nervous and bummed out, the next running around excitedly like a little girl.

He stopped next to her at a room.

She opened the door with the key, and revealed a larger living quarters about the same size as an average hotel room.

They completely examined the room, and after they were done, they met in the living room, Quote nodding contently.

"Not bad," He muttered quietly.

"Good thing we went through with this," Curly stated.

So, for the rest of the day, Curly went out and did things whilst Quote decided to just watch television. He hadn't gotten much time to just sit back and relax, as most of the time he was either a) busy, or b) worrying about Curly or his friendship with her.

He fell asleep at night, and Curly returned to see him conked out on the couch.

She merely smiled and let him be, then went to bed.

The next day, Curly woke up, burst out into the living room, checked the time, and saw that it was 9:45 in the morning.

She saw Quote still sleeping peacefully on the couch and rushed over to him before shoving him.

He awoke with a shout, got up, took a defensive position, then resumed to normal upon seeing Curly.

"Do you mind?" He asked annoyedly.

"We don't have much time," She said impatiently, "Get up and let's get going!"

"Shouldn't we eat first?" He asked.

"Fine," She responded annoyedly, so they quickly ate a simple toast breakfast, left, and bolted to the main hall.

Wait, where did they need to go?

Quote facepalmed, groaning.

"We should've asked Dr. Sakamoto this," Curly grumbled.

Speak of the devil, the doctor ran around the corner and waved at them.

"Over here!" He yelled, and they ran over to him. "The arena is this way. Get moving!"

They ran over and saw a door leading into the arena. Quote checked the time, and it was 9:55.

A voice boomed, seemingly over an intercom.

"Today, we have the first matchup in the International Fighting Tournament. We're starting with an interesting matchup here. Shall we get the fighters in?" The voice asked.

Another voice boomed through.

"Yes, we shall. Soldiers, at once!" The other voice yelled, and they walked professionally out into a large, circular arena. However, the arena wasn't empty. It was mostly open, but with some cover for firefights.

"The match ends when a team surrenders or someone is gravely injured or killed. After a certain amount of time has elapsed, should the match not be over, you may switch your weapons to lethal if you please. Even as such, do your best not to kill your opponents. This isn't a war, it's a competition," The first voice stated.

They nodded. But of course.

Looming outside the arena, a viewing area encased in bulletproof glass sat, elevated above the ground.

Back in the viewing area, two men in suits sat in chairs.

One turned off an intercom, and they turned to mics.

"Well, we've definitely got an interesting matchup here, Frank. Starting it off with Sergeants Marck and Brace from Canada and the U.S. versus Lieutenants Joyce and Nytre, both from the U.S. as well. Do you have a bet who'll win?" One man asked, revealing to be the first voice who spoke through the intercom.

"Yes I do, Matthew. I've read through the files of all four of these extremely talented soldiers here, and one stand out from the rest," The other man stated, obviously being the second voice that spoke through the intercom.

"Sergeant Marck?"

"But of course! You've seen what he can do, right? They're both extremely talented soldiers, but Sergeant Marck is simply superior in skill. I've seen footage of some firefights he was in, and he was like a blur. He took two simple pistols and turned them into weapons of death and destruction. It'd probably take a full company of soldiers to take him out."

"Were you surprised that he found a partner?"

"I think we all were. I also read about where he comes from, and I know why he's so good. He'd been training all his life. There's a reason why, if you met him, he'd never speak to you."

"Quite. Yet he seems to get along very well with Sergeant Brace."

"I have no idea why. Either way, I think we both know how this match will end. Sergeant Marck would likely win this with one arm tied behind his back."

Back down in the arena, Quote examined his opponents from afar, seeing what they had and how they seemed to use them. One was a medium-build man with black hair, and the other was a somewhat skinny girl with blue hair.

Call him cocky, call him arrogant, call him foolish, but...

He flashed a smirk and put one arm behind his back.

Everyone was going nuts.

"Did you see that?!"

"Looks like he heard us, Frank,"

"It seems so! Well, let's get this match started!"

A man walked into the center of the arena, fired off a blank from a revolver, and exited the arena.

Curly dashed for cover, and Quote sidestepped as energy shots whizzed by him. He raised a pistol, dodged more, and took some shots as he, too, hid behind cover.

Curly jumped out from behind her cover, did a flip, and unleashed a barrage from her machine gun, and one shot hit the man, who cursed and fell backward, then rolled to cover.

Quote hid behind his cover more.

"Get out here and fight, you cowardly Canadian!" The girl shouted.

Well, he was going to try and be merciful, but if they were going to be so brash...

He backflipped out from behind cover, still keeping the arm behind his back, shot the girl in the face, and rolled away.

"You asked for it," He grumbled, then looked over at Curly and winked.

She got the hint, and they split up, running back and forth between cover. The girl had gotten up and was walking towards a cover, where she was tackled to the ground by a waiting Curly.

Seeing this, Quote targeted the man.

He snuck up behind him and whacked him with the pistol handle.

The man released a curse and turned around, eager on shooting him with a sleek black assault rifle.

Quote jumped over him and dropkicked him in the face, causing him tumble to the ground, and as he got up, Quote shot him in the back.

The man crumpled to the ground and flopped on his back. Quote placed a foot on his chest and pointed the pistol at his face, and the man cursed.

He heard conflict, and looked up to see Curly still fighting the girl.

He aimed with his pistol, and fired into the girl's back, causing her to fall to the ground with a scream. Curly flashed a thumbs-up in appreciation.

The man saw this as a chance and tried to shake Quote off.

Quote merely slugged him in the face and pointed the pistol back down at him.

"You may switch your weapons to lethal now if you wish," A voice boomed through the intercom.

The man struggled still and punched Quote in the leg, which caused him to stumble. He tipped forward, then placed his foot down next to the man's face, and jammed the pistol into his face.

A clicking noise could be heard.

"Lethal mode activated."

"Don't make me do it," He hissed.

The man weakly looked over to his comrade, only to see her face first on the ground with a machine gun pressed to her skull.

Seeing eachother defeated, the enemy duo raised their hands in defeat.

They both released their opponents, and they both remained on the ground.

Quote looked down at the man and offered his hand to him.

The man reeled in surprise, but took it, and he helped him up.

Quote finally released his other hand and shook the man's hand with it.

"You fought well," He said.

"Says the one-man army," The man grumbled, "We never stood a chance."

"Yet you've given me a more rough time than anyone else I've fought," Quote muttered.

The man shook his head, met up with his partner, and left.

"So, the winners of this match are: Sergeants Marck and Brace."

Quote smirked, and Curly grinned from ear to ear.

"Too easy," He bragged.

Curly nodded slowly, and they left the arena.

As easy as that first match was for them, they knew it'd only get harder and harder.

Perhaps Quote would finally meet his match.

Who knew?

All they knew is that if anyone stood in their way, they'd give them one _hell _of a fight.


	7. Chapter 6: The Demigod Serum

Chapter 6: The Demigod Serum

**A/N: Been awhile since I uploaded anything, eh? Was gonna write a chapter on Monday, but I was busy, then on Tuesday I was sick, sooo... Well, that's just how life works, I suppose.**

After their first battle, they returned to their room and hung around for a few hours, until they heard a knocking at their door. Quote got up and opened the door, revealing Dr. Sakamoto standing there.

He gave the doctor a confused look.

"Hello," Dr. Sakamoto greeted, "If you aren't too busy, I'd like to take the time to explain to you two about exactly what'll happen if you win."

"Give me a minute," Quote muttered, then closed the door and looked to see Curly standing there, confused.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"The doctor," He answered, "He wants to finally explain to us what the research does."

"Ok," She responded, and they exited the room. Dr. Sakamoto grinned.

"Good. Follow me," He ordered, and they followed him across the complex into a large room.

He cleared his throat.

"Now... because this hasn't been done before, we do not have any footage or anything about what it'll do to you, but we have run simulations and we know what it'll do," He explained, "I'll begin with the genetic parts of the Demigod Serum. It's basically a complete genetic overhaul, a revamp of almost all of your genetic code. In simple terms, it would reprogram your cells to individually be stronger, use less energy so you'd have more stamina, and just be all around better. To emphasize this, it's such a massive change that your flesh and blood wouldn't even be red anymore. It'd be blue."

Quote raised an eyebrow.

Blue?

"An odd side effect, that is. You'd also have very pale skin, almost like a ghost. However, it is an insignificant price to pay for the power you'd be recieving. The serum would also amplify your senses, instincts, and reaction times," Dr. Sakamoto continued, then put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"But it wouldn't change anything really about us, would it? None of our... unique traits or personalities?" Curly asked.

The doctor shook his head. "Oh, no, no," He muttered, "It doesn't do anything like that. It only modifies the... general parts of your DNA. It doesn't tamper with your unique qualities."

She nodded slowly.

"I guess I'll move on to the cybernetics now. The serum also contains nanites, or really tiny machines, that would essentially enter your bloodstream and protect the body from internal threats such as poison, disease, infection, that sort of thing. The genetics also strengthen your immune system, but better safe than sorry," He explained, "The machines would also help repair wounds and cuts faster, and would help your blood clot faster should you be injured."

Quote was skeptical.

"Injecting nanomachines into our bodies? Technology doesn't always work. What happens if they malfunction?" He asked.

"The nanites have built-in kill switches that activate instantly if defects are detected in the programming. They'd basically just dissolve and exit your body," The doctor answered.

That was a good enough answer for him.

"However, the Demigod Serum is not the only part of the operation. Oh, no. To start it off, your eyes will be modified to be waterproof so you can see underwater," He stated, "You'll also have your ears replaced with antennae so you could communicate via radio or whatever, and it would amplify your sense of hearing."

"Woah, hold on," Curly muttered.

"Antennae?" Quote asked.

"But, if something bad happened, like an antenna got pinned in between something, wouldn't it just get... pulled out? Or broken?" Curly asked nervously, cringing at the thought.

"The antennae would be made out of some of the toughest metal alloys known to man. It'd take a ludicrous amount of force to break or pull out. Furthermore, your skeletons will also be reinforced with lightweight yet durable materials," Dr. Sakmoto answered, "So, in essence, this process would turn you into superhumans. You'd be as strong if not stronger than a bodybuilder, faster than an olympic runner, tougher than steel, and as talented as a demigod. That is why we called it the Demigod Serum."

Quote nodded, very impressed.

Curly simply released a "Hmm" and put a fist to her chin thoughtfully.

"Do you have any more questions?" Dr. Sakamoto asked.

"Are there any other side effects that we should know about?" Quote asked.

"No... not that we know of, and we've simulated everything, so there should be nothing else to mention," The doctor responded, "So, I've covered everything. You can return to your room now."

They got up and left, then walked back to their room and entered. Quote plopped down on the couch and adopted a puzzled look. She sat down next to him and put her hands behind her head.

"That was pretty interesting, wasn't it?" She asked happily.

He nodded slowly.

"What's on your mind?" She inquired.

"Bleach-white skin... blue blood... antennae for ears... would we even be considered human anymore?" He grumbled.

"Of course!" She exclaimed, "If you added modifications to your favourite gun, would it still be a gun?"

He nodded.

"But this is different," He muttered.

"Is it really? I mean, it's not like we'd be turned into a different animal or whatever. We'd still be humans, just... different, that's all," She countered.

He nodded yet again.

"True," He agreed, "Yet something about this unsettles me. Maybe just because it's basically unproven. If we win this, we'd be undergoing something nobody else has undergone before. We can't really tell what'll happen."

"Well, they had a stupidly high budget for this, you'd think they would've spent a great amount of time and money making sure everything works perfectly," She reasoned.

Silence.

He was deep in thought.

"You're right," He muttered, "It'll be fine... hopefully."

"Now that's more like it. Don't be so pessimistic all the time. You'll just bum yourself out," She advised.

"No guarantees," He replied.

They sat there for a little while, doing absolutely nothing.

"So..." She muttered, "What do we do now?"

He thought about what they could do, then a mischievous smirk came onto his face.

"I know," He said, "Let's go to our armory and have a friendly little match."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Like, fight eachother?" She asked.

"Well, it'd be all in the name of fun and training. Not a _real_ fight," He explained, "Like, we'd not be using weapons or anything. We don't want to hurt eachother."

"Hmm... sure," She muttered, then giggled. "This'll be fun."

"Just don't expect me to go easy on you because you're my best friend," He warned, and she snorted.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," She said confidently.

They got up and exited their room, and walked to their armory, then entered.

They walked to opposite ends of the room, and Quote took a defensive stance, then grinned smugly and mischievously at her.

"Alright," He muttered.

She smirked in response.

"_**Do your worst.**_"


	8. Chapter 7: Light in the Dark

Chapter 7: Light in the Dark

She bolted toward him and slid down, attempting to knock him off of his feet, but he merely hopped over the attack and landed behind her.

She quickly got up and turned to face him, and he suddenly slipped behind her and locked her in a headlock.

"Is that all you got?" He taunted.

She elbowed him hard in the gut and he fell backward with a grunt.

"Oh, please," She responded, "I'm just getting warmed up."

He got up and took a defensive stance yet again. She ran toward him and reached out a fist, trying to smack him in the face, which he blocked and nearly countered with an attack of his own, but he froze.

It felt wrong.

Sensing an opportunity, she kicked his feet out from underneath him, kicked him in the face, and when he fell to the ground she put her foot on his back, signalling his defeat.

"Now it's my turn. Is that all _you _got?" She mocked.

"Not fair," He grumbled, his voice muffled by the floor, "You made me hesitate."

"Aww, boo hoo," She said sassily, "What do you want, a consolation prize? Too bad, soldier boy, deal with it."

He grumbled and laid there.

"I'll get my revenge sometime," He stated, "Just you wait."

"Mhm, sure. I can't wait to see that," She responded sarcastically, then took her foot off of him, and he got up.

He clutched his forehead and groaned.

"Damn, did that hurt," He grumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Curly asked.

"I think I have a headache now," He stated.

She giggled.

"Let's go back. It's probably time for dinner anyway," She advised, and he nodded.

So, they went out into the main hall, where everyone was eating dinner. They got their food and sat down.

Another group sat down next to them. Two men, about their age, but they looked like punks.

"Ey," One greeted, "Aren't you two that group that easily beat the other group today?"

Quote nodded.

"That was _crazy!_ You did it with one arm behind your back! Where did you learn all that?!" The other exclaimed.

He smirked amusedly.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," He answered.

"Aw, come on! Really? I mean, it's not like telling us would be a bad thing. We're just curious, dude!" The first guy grumbled.

"All I'll say is that I've been training all my life. Nothing else," He stated, "You kinda get a feel for this sort of thing when you've been doing it since you were a kid. Now, can you let us eat in peace?"

They nodded, quietly got up, and walked away.

"That was odd," Curly muttered.

"Quite," He replied.

"You think they were just fans? Or do you think they had some sort of hidden agenda?" She asked.

"It's impossible to tell. Maybe a bit of both, maybe neither. To be fair, I think anyone would want to be able to know how to fight like that," He stated.

"Hm, true," She agreed, and he frowned.

"Perhaps it's just my bad experiences getting to me, but I have a bad feeling about this," He grumbled.

"You make a big deal over everything," She pouted, "Take some time to relax for once instead of being such a worrywart."

"Easier said than done when you've gone through such hell like I have," He grumbed annoyedly.

"Right..." She said quietly.

"Just keep an eye on them. They could just be trying to get to know us to get us to lower their guard around them so they could do something bad. Wouldn't surprise me," He advised, and she nodded.

They finished eating just as it was time for rollcall.

Rollcall... they both didn't like the idea. It made it seem more like a prison complex than like a research installation or whatever it was.

Rollcall was short. Dr. Sakamoto tallied who was or wasn't there and made announcements.

Before he dismissed rollcall, he cleared his throat.

"Now, I know many of you may not like the idea of rollcall, but it is necessary for security purposes. We cannot have you running around unsupervised at night in case a), something bad happens to you; or b), you tamper with another team. Surely you all understand this," He explained, and everyone nodded.

"Good," He muttered, "Return to your rooms now. If you are caught outside after rollcall, you'll get into pretty big trouble."

Everyone returned to their rooms. Quote and Curly went to bed.

They both peacefully drifted off to dreamless sleep.

Some time later, Quote was awoken by a noise. It sounded oddly like a door being slowly opened.

He faintly heard whispering, and saw the door handle to his bedroom slowly turn.

Something was wrong. Dead wrong.

He pretended to be asleep as the door slowly opened, and he heard more whispering. The whispering sounded male.

The door slowly closed.

Yes, something was indeed _**very **_wrong.

He quietly got up, grabbed one of his pistols, and slowly opened the door. He poked his head out and saw the door to Curly's room open.

Since when did she leave her door open?

He crept toward the room, and he was beyond alarmed when he saw the two punks from earlier. One of them was standing next to the sleeping Curly, holding a knife above his head.

He shot him in the face, and he fell down with a cry.

Curly woke up immediately and began looking around, very confused.

Quote wanted to strangle both of the young men.

The other one pulled out a pistol of his own, but he shot him in the face as well.

He turned to Curly.

"Go get security! _**NOW!**_" He yelled, and she ran out.

He felt the pistol be knocked out of his hands, but he grabbed the pistol from the guy's hand and chucked it out.

He took a defensive position.

"Come on," He taunted, "Try me."

They both rushed him, but he tripped them and bashed one of them in the face with his knee as they fell.

The other one grabbed the knife and tried to slash his legs with it, but he stepped back and stomped his hand, causing him to release the knife. He picked it up.

"I knew you two idiots were up to no good," He spat.

He pinned them both down, and no matter how much they struggled, he didn't give.

What felt like an eternity later, Curly returned with four security guards. Quote looked up and released the two punks.

"Here they are," He said furiously, "The attempted murderers."

The security guards put them in handcuffs.

"Alright, tough guys, you're gonna be in for some hell right soon," The one guard hissed, and they left.

They both sat down on the couch, and Curly was beginning to shake.

He looked over to her, and was depressed by what he saw.

A broken, sad excuse of what she normally was.

He offered a hug to her, and she took it gratefully.

He could hear her begin to cry, and he began to pat her back.

"It's okay," He whispered, "You're safe now. Nothing's gonna happen to you, ever. As long as I live, I won't let anything happen to you."

She hugged him tighter, and he continued to pat her back.

Eventually, she slowly let go and sighed sadly.

"I guess you were right," She admitted sadly, "People really will do anything for power. I don't know why I ever thought we as a species were better than this."

Since when was she so pessimistic?

"But you're a human, I'm a human, are we bad people?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"No, but we're only two people," She muttered, "We won't make a difference."

"We'll see about that," He stated, "Just remember that I'll always be here for you. I realize now that it doesn't matter what other people do anymore. All that matters is yourself and those you care about. After all, isn't that what you were always trying to show me?"

She stared at him in despair.

"B-but... how can you be so... so positive after this? A group tried to _kill me!_ How can you... how can you see goodness in people after such a horrific event?" She cried.

He shook his head.

"I just see you, and how good of a person you are. Those two punks? _**To hell with them!**_ They're so insignificant that it doesn't even matter. Everyone on this planet who is corrupt or evil, they don't matter. It's the good that matters, and let me tell you," He said, then put a hand on her shoulder.

"You matter. Maybe not to others, but definitely to me," He stated.

She didn't know how to respond, so she just hugged him again. He returned it.

"Thank you," She whispered, "For everything."

"No," He stated, "Thank _you. _For showing me that there is light in this dark world."

After a few minutes, he chuckled.

"Well, I guess we should go get some sleep. We won't be able to fight if we're dead tired," He advised.

"Yeah," She said tiredly, and they got up and walked over to their respective bedrooms.

They wished eachother a good night and went to bed, and it took them awhile to fall asleep.

One couldn't exactly blame them after such an eventful night.


	9. Chapter 8: Pity

Chapter 8: Pity

The next day, Quote woke up, and immediately began to think about the events of the previous night.

Thinking of this, he decided that he'd never speak to someone he didn't know, unless it was absolutely necessary.

He went through with this decision for awhile, as for the next two months he very rarely said anything to others as the tournament progressed. He also decided to never hold back against anyone, so most if not all of their battles were short and easily won.

They earned quite a following from their endeavours.

However, all of the other groups despised them.

However, neither of them cared about either of those facts.

Eventually, they made it to quarterfinals, surprising no one. Only seven battles were remaining in the tournament.

They began to train vigorously, intent on not losing after getting so far.

They advanced through quarterfinals somewhat easily after a somewhat short match, yet it was still a large step up from the foes they were facing before. It unsettled Quote.

So, they trained harder.

Onto the semifinals they went. In the final matches, it would take much longer for them to be allowed to activate lethal mode on their weapons. Just to make it more interesting, and 'fair'.

The day of the battle, they entered the arena and scrutinized their opponents. One was a large man that looked North American and had a large machine gun, and the other was another man, but smaller, more agile-looking, and Asian. He was holding a small rifle.

The announcer rambled on about the match, until the shot was fired to begin the match.

Quote and Curly had gotten to know how eachother fought well and came up with a battle tactic that worked very well.

Quote bolted ahead and took the enemy head-on whilst Curly held back and laid suppressing fire, knocking down any attempts to flank him.

Quote saw the Asian man sneak away and was about to chase after him, but was stopped by the larger man and bashed in the face.

He fell to the ground and got up, tripping the large man, and then shot him. The shot didn't seem to do very much.

The man got up and kicked him in the face, knocking him back with a yell.

Curly unleashed a barrage of fire onto the man's back, causing him to fall to the ground howling with pain.

Quote got up and felt something running down his lip. He wiped it off and saw it was blood. That brute had kicked him _good._

Speaking of, said brute had gotten up and was walking toward Curly, so he shot him in the head.

He had an overwhelming urge to duck, and did so as a rifle shot whizzed over his head.

He looked at where the shot came from and saw the Asian man attempting to snipe him.

He lined up a shot and took it, knocking the sniper back.

He turned back to the brute and bolted ahead to him, then dropkicked him in the side before he could even turn around.

While their enemies were down, Quote looked over to Curly and nodded toward where the Asian man used to be sniping from, and she nodded and slipped away.

He turned back to the brute and shot him again before he could get up.

He felt a gun barrel clock him in the back of his head, and he fell to the ground.

The Asian man was standing over him with a cocky smirk.

He tried to kick him off and get up, but was shot in the face.

"Did you forget about me?" He asked smugly.

A white shot of energy hit the Asian man in the side of his head, knocking him out.

"Oh, no," Curly said, "We don't forget that easily."

Quote slowly got up and looked at the brute, who was attempting to get up. Another shot and he was out.

He tiredly placed a foot on the brute's back, and Curly did the same with the Asian man.

"Yet again, we have our winners," One of the two announcers exclaimed, "Sergeants Marck and Brace!"

Curly grinned, and Quote's expression remained blank.

Yes, he was happy, but he felt like absolute trash.

And that was only the _semifinal. _How intense would the final battle itself be?

He stepped down, then fell to the ground with a grunt.

Curly gently picked him up in a fireman's carry and brought him back to their room. She practically kicked open the door, walked over to the couch, and laid him down gently in a sitting position.

He smiled weakly in appreciation.

"I don't deserve you," He muttered.

She finally got the chance to look at his condition, and it made her frown.

He'd taken one hell of a beating from that fight.

It was a good thing that the final battle was two weeks away, he'd need that time to recover.

His face was bloodied, bruised, and mildly burned. He had a black eye, as well. He'd be in no condition for fighting like that. Odds are he had some other possible injuries that she couldn't see.

She smiled.

"Lie down. I'll go get an ice pack or two, and some bandages," She ordered, and he did so.

Fortunately, their rooms came pre-stocked with various basic medicinal materials and basic food items, including bandages and ice packs. She grabbed a pack of bandages and two ice packs, wrapped the ice packs in towels, and sat down beside him.

She bandaged his scrapes and cuts and put one ice pack on his black eye, and the other on another area of his face.

"There," She said, "Just rest for awhile. If you need anything, give me a shout."

"You're the best," He mumbled, "Really."

She smiled and walked away, and was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

"Hello? Anyone home?" A voice called. It was Dr. Sakamoto, not a surprise. He'd visited them often throughout the tournament, they became somewhat acquainted with the odd scientist.

Curly walked over to the door and opened it, giving the doctor a confused look.

"Hi?" She asked, "Is there something you needed?"

"Ah, hello," The doctor greeted, "And, no, I don't need anything. Your pal looked like he was roughed up pretty good in that kerfuffle. I just came by to see if he was alright."

Hearing this, she smiled.

"How... thoughtful of you," She said.

"May I come in?" He asked, and she nodded, then let him come in.

Dr. Sakamoto released a "hmm" as he saw Quote's condition, sitting down.

"You really look worse for wear," He muttered.

Quote frowned.

"I don't need your pity," He grumbled, "I've been through far worse than this."

"However, you are actually looking quite a bit better than I expected. With your friend here taking care of you, I think a little help from me won't be necessary," Dr. Sakamoto stated, then got up. "Well, get better soon. After all, I'm counting on you," He muttered, then left.

Quote slowly shook his head, grumbling silently.

"You okay?" Curly asked, "Do you need anything?"

"No," He grumbled, "I already know I hate this. I'm a soldier! I can't stand this pity, being looked down upon. Even you are doing it."

She stepped back in shock.

"Wha? No! Since when was I condescending or anything?" She responded hastily.

"Never. You're the nicest person on the planet. You're doing it subconsciously. You see me as I am right now and think 'Oh, he looks bad, I need to take care of him,' and I appreciate it, I really, really do, but..." He explained, "It makes me feel useless. Weak. Like a liability. Not like the one-man army I'm supposed to be."

She knelt down beside him and smiled.

"Hey, look, it's okay. Yeah, you're skilled and whatever, but you're still only human. Humans make mistakes, humans aren't perfect. You can't expect yourself to be," She said, "Everybody gets hurt sometime. It's just a part of life, and we move on."

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I guess so," He muttered, then rubbed his non-covered eye groggily. "Can you turn off the lights? I'm tired."

She smiled more, got up, and turned off the lights.

"You truly are the best," He mumbled, then drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 9: Knowledge

Chapter 9: Knowledge

**A/N: Poof, I'm back. This won't be the final battle. Not yet. I'm still not sure of what I'm really gonna do with that. So, here's some filler material. I hope it's enough to satisfy you all. It may not be an epic battle, but what it is should be just as good.**

Quote was back on his feet quickly. As he'd said, he'd been through worse. He recalled a specific time where he'd been shot by a sniper rifle in the leg.

He cringed just thinking about it.

There was something... else that came to mind, but he pushed it down the moment he thought of it.

The grand final of the tournament was the next day, and they hardly had any time to train.

So, they really began to crack down on it.

They spent practically the whole day training fiercely.

They'd made it this far, they were _**not **_going to lose now.

And if they were... they'd make the other team go through the wringer for it.

Curly couldn't wait for the next day, as she knew it was finally nearing the end of this dumb tournament, and they'd finally be able to get the enhancements.

Quote, however, was dreading it.

Majorly.

There was a plethora of factors going into the final battle that made him feel so anxious. First of all, the obvious. It was _**the **_final battle, any realistic person would be nervous going into it. Not to mention the beating he'd recieved from their last battle.

The thing was...

They'd barely been able to beat _them._

Furthermore, he knew _**nothing **_about his soon-to-be opponents.

Normally that didn't faze him, but this combined with the previous facts made him nervous.

As Sun Tzu said in his book _The Art Of War: _"If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

After basically everything he'd gone through in the past month or so, he wasn't sure how well he knew himself anymore.

And _**that **_is what scared him.

Curly could tell something was wrong throughout the whole day, but let it be.

After their day of gruelling training, they returned to their room.

Quote sat down on the couch and began to rub his temples.

Now Curly decided that she needed to step in.

She sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He turned to her.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her. It'd just kill her morale.

"Nothing," He lied.

She stared blankly at him.

"If you think I can't tell when you're lying or not, you're wrong," She stated disappointedly.

"It's nothing," He grumbled.

"Yeah, I don't think so," She disagreed, "Something is really bothering you. Just tell me what it is. I'm your best friend, right? You'd think we'd be able to share things with eachother."

He shook his head.

"Of course," He muttered, "I just don't want to bring you down so soon before the final battle."

"Is that what's got you acting so skittish? Tomorrow?" She asked.

As per usual, it was as if she read his mind.

He sighed and nodded.

"You ever read 'The Art Of War'?" He asked.

"No... I can't say I have," She answered.

"Oh... well..." He muttered. How was he going to explain this? "Well, you saw what happened in our last battle. I think I know why. Throughout this whole tournament, we've been so cocky and arrogant about this that we never took the time to try and get to know about our enemies. That's why... that happened. And now we're going up against the only other team left, and they'll probably be way better than the other team we fought, and yet again, we know absolutely nothing about them."

Curly tilted her head.

"Are you sure lack of knowledge is what caused that? Or our own mistakes?" She countererd.

"Both. Had we known more about them and how they fought, we could've prepared in advance for this and it wouldn't have been that much of a surprise. We barely won that round," He muttered, "I think this is where we finally lose."

She frowned.

"Oh, come on! Don't say that! Like you said, we don't know anything about them, yet you're already assuming that we're gonna lose? Just how bad do you think we are?" She exclaimed.

He chuckled.

"I knew you would say that. I don't doubt your abilities or my own. But we could be going up against a team equally skilled as us, if not more skilled. If they got this far in the tournament, they're obviously a force to be reckoned with. No matter who wins or loses, this is going to be the battle of our lives," He stated.

"Maybe," She said, "Maybe... or maybe we'll find a weakness in the way they fight and use it."

"But if they've gotten this far then they have had much time to perfect their strategy, like us, and to emphasize this another team probably would have exploited a weakness by now. I don't think you're viewing the full picture here," He grumbled.

She scowled.

"No, it's _you _who isn't seeing the full picture! You think I haven't thought of all that already? What do you think I am? An idiot?! You're being so focused on them, whoever they are, you're forgetting about us! Don't you get it?! Like you said, _**we've **_had time to perfect _**our **_strategy, too! Yet you're acting like we'll lose in seconds! This isn't going to be like that! Yes, you got hurt in the last battle, I realize that, but we've learned from that, haven't we? If they're able to beat us that easily now, then good for them, they deserve the enhancements anyway. It's not the end of the world. Do you see?" She yelled.

He was genuinely alarmed by that.

It took him awhile to come up with a response.

He sighed.

"Yes. I see that. I understand that. But I'm not worried that we'll be steamrolled by the other team. No. I'm just worried that we'll lose. For you, it's easy to say that _you _can go back to your daily life, but me?" He said sadly.

He scoffed.

"I have no daily life. This is my chance. My window of opportunity to finally become... something. The only time in my life where I've actually held hope of doing something that will turn me from a worthless nobody into somebody," He explained, "I have no family. No friends. No home. That is why I joined the military. A chance to do something good with my life, a way to finally vent my anger and frustration, and the possibility of becoming something. But, no. I hate my job. My colleagues are all as-(ahem)... jerks, and nobody would care less if I lived or died. This is my golden opportunity to change that. Do you get it now?"

She didn't respond.

"I can't go back. No, not now. All the wounds, all the injuries I've sustained... none of them could hurt anywhere much as it did... just... just being me. I can't go back to that. Not after all this. I have nothing to return to," He stated.

She smiled warmly, yet sadly.

"You have me," She said, "What about me? Surely you consider me a friend, right?"

"Curly, I couldn't thank you enough for all the wonderful things you've done for me. Of course I consider you a friend. My only true friend. But what's the point? If we lose, we'll be separated. You'll go to who-knows-where, and I'll go back to that damned desert, just aimlessly killing and killing yet again," He grumbled.

She looked down sadly.

"I guess I never thought of it that way," She stated somberly, "I guess you're right. I really have been naive to not have been anxious about this. We've got to win, or else. I also have nothing to return to."

Something died inside of him.

Just as he'd feared, he'd killed her morale.

He needed to fix this somehow.

"Curly... I never said you were naive. I understand why you were excited about this. We're so close to finally completing this tournament, and that's wonderful. It really is. I'm not asking you to be nervous like me. No. You're the happy one, and I'm the miserable one. That's simply how it is. We can't have both of us be sad. Someone's gotta keep the morale up, and I'm sorry I made you feel that way," He stated.

She looked up and smiled timidly.

"It really matters that much to you?" She asked.

He nodded.

"There's gotta be some light in this dark world," He said jokingly.

She grinned.

"Yeah, we've got this. We may not know the baddies, but we know eachother, and that's what counts!" She beamed, then stretched. "Well, it's getting pretty late. We should probably get some sleep."

He nodded, and they went their separate ways.

"Good night, Quote!" She wished happily.

"Good night, Curly," He wished relaxedly.

And so he went to bed with a smile on his face.

She was right.

As usual.

It didn't matter if they didn't know the enemy.

They knew themselves.

And that is truly all that mattered.


	11. Chapter 10: Finale

Chapter 10: Finale

**A/N: Hello again. I finally came up with an idea for a final battle, so here it is, I guess. Heh. I don't really know much about what I'll do after this chapter, so uploads may slow down again as I take time to think of ideas that aren't garbage. Apologies.**

Quote woke up the next day and got up in an instant. It was the grand final.

He bolted over to Curly's room, and guessed she was still asleep.

He knocked loudly on her door.

"Wake up!" He shouted, and the bolted out of the room, smacking him in the face with the door, which caused him to fall down.

"Huh? What's wrong?" She asked panickedly, then looked to see him on the ground rubbing his nose.

"The final is today," He grumbled miserably.

"Did we sleep in again?" She asked worriedly.

He checked the time, and saw that they still had around an hour and a half.

"No," He muttered, and she smirked sassily.

"Well, I was gonna apologize for bashing you in the face with the door, but that was your own fault," She stated.

He said nothing and stood up.

"Either way, we should probably get some extra training in before the battle. Win or lose, this fight is going to be something else," He muttered, and she nodded slowly.

So, they quickly got ready, then trained some until it was time for the battle.

They went to the arena, neither of them saying a word.

Curly looked over at Quote and saw him pale, a look of sheer anxiety and worry on his face, and him very slightly shaking.

She smiled and grabbed his wrist.

"Relax," She told him, "We've got this."

He calmed down and nodded.

A voice boomed over an intercom.

"Today we are here to witness something awe-inspiring. The grand final of the International Fighting Tournament. The group that wins this battle will become a class of their own, become superhumans, and we know that neither group plans on losing."

"Indeed. This shall be a legendary battle, an epic clash of the titans unlike anything the world has ever seen!"

"Then let's not keep them waiting."

Quote and Curly stepped forward into the arena for the last time.

They saw on the other side two soldiers that looked oddly similar to them. Two medium-sized soldiers, one male and the other female. The male had blond hair shaped into spikes, and the female had brown hair twisted into a ponytail.

The female smiled and the male smirked tauntingly.

Quote simply raised an eyebrow.

"For the finale we have sergeants Marck and Brace versus Admiral Eren and Lieutenant Termick. Are both sides ready to fight?"

All four of them grinned from ear to ear and nodded.

"Then let the final battle commence."

A man walked into the center of the arena, raised a revolver into the air, waited for what seemed to be an eternity, then fired a blank.

"You go after the girl, I'll go after the guy," Quote stated, and Curly nodded.

He bolted forward and released some shots at his opponent, who dodged them all with ease. He slipped behind the blond-haired man and tried to trip him, but he just jumped over it and elbowed him in the face.

He dashed back and shot again, and the man took out his own weapon.

Dual pistols, just like his own.

He shot the man's wrist, and he hissed out in pain, dropping the pistol. He ran over and kicked it out of the way, but the man grabbed his arm and twisted it around, forcing him to drop one of his own pistols.

The man bent his arm back, and he shouted out in pain as he was forced to lean backward. He jumped up and dropkicked him in the face, and they both got up at lightning speed.

His own pistol was kicked away, so they were both stuck with one pistol.

Quote dashed toward his opponent and tried to bash him in the face with the pistol, but it was grabbed before it could make contact.

His enemy tried doing the same thing to him, but Quote grabbed the pistol before it could hit him.

Now they were stuck until one could overpower the other.

They stared at eachother with a look of pure determination in their faces.

Curly was having similar difficulty dealing with the brown-haired woman.

Instead of fighting hand-to-hand, they were having a firefight with mixed results. Curly already had minor burns in multiple places. She looked around for her enemy, becoming slightly confused when she saw her nowhere, then felt a tapping behind her.

"Looking for someone?"

Quote and his opponent were still struggling to overpower the other, until his enemy tripped him.

He mentally facepalmed.

How did he not see this coming?

The man pressed a pistol into his skull.

"You know, it's a shame that your girlfriend is still around," He taunted.

Quote froze.

He must've been hallucinating.

There's no way...

Absolutely no way he just said something that stupid.

He grabbed the pistol and turned it around on it's wielder, then kicked him in the knee and got up.

He stared at his opponent with a look of pure hatred.

"_What... did... you... just... say?!_" He hissed.

The man laughed.

"You heard me right," He spat.

Quote began seeing red.

"You ignorant little shit!" He yelled, then bashed him in the face with his knee. He picked him and slammed him against his knee, ignoring the pain that blossomed there.

His opponent shouted out in pain, but he wasn't done yet. He threw him down on the ground, and when he tried to get up, he jumped into the air and roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head.

His blond opponent was now on the ground, unarmed, but with one pistol hanging at his side. He slowly reached for it, but Quote stepped on his hand, then kicked it away. Quote grabbed his own pistol, then looked down at his opponent.

"Let me make something clear. If you want to remain conscious, or alive, then I suggest you stay down. You've pissed me off now, and that's why you're gonna lose," He spat, then got up and ran over to help his partner.

Meanwhile, in the observation book, the two announcers were very intrigued and curious.

They saw what happened and saw that Quote had changed instantly.

Y'see, they noticed how he was typically calm, cool, and collected in his battles. He was a force to be reckoned with and fought without mercy, but he fought professionally and calmly.

However, they saw the rage in his mannerisms and knew that it was personal this time.

"Frank, did you see what happened?"

"Why, yes I did. Marck seems to be very displeased. Any ideas why?"

"Termick said something to him right before he lost it. My guess is that he really offended him."

"Maybe he said something about what happened that one night?"

"Possibly. What else could have made someone as calm as him so mad?"

"Let's see if this changes the outcome of the battle."

"Yes. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Let them switch their weapons to lethal?"

"Yes, yes."

"Very well."

A voice boomed throughout the arena:

"You may now switch your weapons to lethal if you wish."

Quote saw Curly lying on the ground attempting to bat a machine gun off of her, but a shot was fired into her side and she yelled out in pain.

Quote fired a shot right into the side of the brunette's head, and she fell down with a cry.

He rushed over to Curly and helped her up. She seemed rather beaten.

The brunette got up and ran away, seeking cover to fire down on her two enemies.

"Oh, I don't think so," Curly grumbled, shooting her.

"You got this?" Quote asked.

"Did you deal with the other guy?" She asked.

"He's not getting up any time soon," He said with pleasure, "He said something he shouldn't have, and I made him regret it. If he's smart, he'll stay down."

She frowned.

"Then let's end this," She said.

He nodded, and they bolted over to where they last saw the woman.

Quote felt something bash into his face **hard**, and he fell to the ground with a shout.

Curly looked up and saw the woman on a ledge, holding her machine gun as a bashing weapon.

The woman jumped on her, and they fell to the ground.

Quote's world was spinning.

He slowly managed to get up, grabbed his pistols again, and was able to shoot the woman, and Curly managed to get her off of her.

The woman proceeded to fiercely attempt to escape them, but they pinned her to the ground.

A shot rang out through the arena, and a shot whizzed by Curly's head, singing some of her hair off.

Quote turned and saw the blond man up and holding one of his pistols.

With a flick of a switch, something happened.

'Lethal mode activated.'

Another shot rang out through the arena, and the man slowly fell to the ground.

The ground beneath the man slowly turned red.

Curly looked over to Quote and saw him stuck in an aiming stance, a look of pure hatred on his face.

Now that one of the enemies were gravely injured, the battle could no longer continue.

Quote walked over to the man and knelt down beside him.

"I warned you," He said slowly, then stepped up and waved to grab someone's attention. "Get some medics over here!" He barked.

Some medics came over and raised the man onto a stretcher.

Curly walked over to Quote with a look of extreme concern on her face. She almost looked... afraid.

"With Lieutenant Termick wounded, the battle can no longer continue."

"Without further ado, we announce the grand champions: Sergeants Marck and Brace!"

Neither of them smiled.

Yes, they won, but at what cost?

They exited the arena, and Dr. Sakamoto was waiting for them in a state of pure ecstasy.

"You did it! I knew you could!" He exclaimed.

"Talk to us later," Quote grumbled.

The doctor became confused, but backed off.

They returned to their room, and Quote sat down on the couch.

Curly cleared her throat, and he looked over at her.

She looked hurt, and very angry.

"What?" He muttered, "I warned him."

"And?" She spat, "You may have just killed a man."

"So what?" He hissed, "I've killed hundreds of people! You probably have, too! What makes this different?"

She shook her head in disbelief.

"When we fought in our wars, we had no other choice. Here, there was," She said sadly, "You willingly shot that man, knowing your weapon would seriously harm him. You could've just ran over to him and knocked him unconscious, but no. You _had to_ show how _big, mean, and tough_ you are."

She turned away in disgust.

Quote shook his head slowly.

"Do you know what he said? Do you?" He asked weakly.

She looked over her shoulder.

"He basically said it was a bad thing that the attempt made on your life failed," He stated, "He basically said _**it was a shame you weren't dead!**_"

She turned around, shocked.

"W-what?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He shook his head.

"For all I know, he was the one who orchestrated that crime, and just had those two morons do it for him. I couldn't let him get away with disrespecting you so greatly, but I gave him a choice. Stay down and live, or continue fighting futilely and die. He chose death," He explained.

She sat down and put her hands to her forehead.

"Well... I-I guess that explains it," She said sadly, "But good reasons can't justify an evil action. You... you honestly scared me there. I thought... I thought maybe you'd even attack me."

Hearing this, he looked down in shame.

"I'm... sorry," He apologized, "If I knew it would've affected you so much I wouldn't have done it."

"If that man lives, apologize to him. Please," She asked.

But he wasn't in the wrong here!

He shook his head.

She looked at him, tears streaming down her face.

"Please," She begged.

Silence.

"Okay," He said, "I will. I'll apologize to him."

She hugged him, and he hugged her back.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, "I really am."


	12. Chapter 11: Consequences

Chapter 11: Consequences

**A/N: I... don't even know how long it's been since I've last uploaded to this story. Y'all probably thought I'd given up on it. And you know what? So did I. I fell out of interest with Cave Story, and I thought nobody was reading it anymore, so I didn't see a reason to continue. However, I've recently gotten back into, well, not Cave Story, but Crystal Crisis, and I recieved a very nice review (thank you for that, by the way, I appreciate every review) so I'm back in the game. And there WILL be a sequel, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm gonna do with it as of right now.**

The next day was silent.

No words were spoken, nothing was done.

They were both waiting to hear the news about whether their adversary would live or die.

As he thought about it more and more, the worse he began to feel about it.

He argued with himself that it was allowed, and that the guy had done stupid things that he shouldn't have and that it cost him. He also argued that he'd defended himself and Curly by shooting him, and that it was merely how things went in these kind of atrocious competitions.

He tried telling himself that he was a warrior. Simply a soldier doing his job.

But deep down, something told him he wasn't right.

He didn't have to wound him. He could've knocked him out, pinned him down, whatever, but he didn't. An unnecessary injury... or even an unnecessary death, on his hands because he was blinded by rage and too stupid to see or understand the consequences.

If that man died... would that make him a murderer?

He didn't know anymore.

He shook his head and put his hands to his face in exasperation.

After what seemed to be another eternity of deafening silence, they recieved a knocking on their room door.

Quote got up and walked over to the door, then opened it. The doctor was there, and he let him inside.

Curly walked out into the living area of the room to see who had arrived, and sighed to see Dr. Sakamoto there.

She didn't even need to ask him the question that they both needed an answer for.

"Termick will live, but he will not be fit for duty ever again," He said blankly.

Quote visibly tensed, and Curly's look darkened.

"I-if you're worried about any repercussions of this, you don't need to worry. We're not holding you accountible, as it wasn't breaking any rules," He said nervously.

Quote's expression turned sour.

"How lowly must you really think of us... to think that's our main concern at this moment?" He grumbled quietly.

"I don't think lowly of you two at all. Quite the opposite. I merely thought that telling you this would help calm your nerves some. You'll have to be at your best for tomorrow," He said, excitement creeping into his voice as he said the last part.

"Tomorrow? What's tomorrow?" Curly asked.

"Tomorrow is the big day. You two completed the tournament, tomorrow's the day you recieve your winning prize," He said contently.

"Super," Quote whispered sarcastically to himself.

Seeing that the two soldiers still looked to be under the weather, the doctor thought of something.

"You know..." He muttered, "Remember how all of the battles were to be shown on live television?"

The thought made them both cringe, and they both nodded.

"No, this isn't a bad thing," Dr. Sakamoto stated, "Come with me. I should've showed you two this a while ago."

The doctor left the building, leaving behind two confused soldiers.

They turned to eachother, and Curly shrugged her shoulders.

They both began to trail after the doctor, wondering just what exactly he was going to show them.

They followed him through a ridiculously long series of hallways and tunnels until they got into a small room.

The doctor turned on the lights, revealing many envelopes and video tapes.

"What's this?" Curly asked.

"Lots of people watched those tournaments. It was like a sports league. What do sports teams all have in common, across every single sport and every single league?" The doctor asked contently.

Quote scratched the back of his head, and the doctor grabbed a video tape, then put it into a video player.

"Fans. Watch this," He ordered.

They saw a screen light up, and turned to it.

What they saw made their jaws drop.

A sea of people, a group of hundreds... maybe even thousands of people grouped together, yelling and cheering.

Some were wearing hats that looked identical to Quote's, others were holding up signs with drawings of a green scarf on it along with motivational words, but eventually the unintelligible ruckus molded into a universal message.

They were shouting their names.

After a minute of chanting, they returned to yelling and cheering.

The video ended.

"Wh-wha...?" Quote stuttered, but couldn't find his words.

"W-was that real? Did that actually happen?" Curly asked.

The doctor nodded, a smirk on his face.

"Yes, that was a rally dedicated to none other than yourselves held in Montana," He stated, "Approximately ten thousand people attended."

They both froze, unsure of how to reply to the baffling new information.

"Oh, and there's more. This was just _one _rally. There were rallies popping up all over the world, some for different teams, but guess what? 75% of the rallies were hosted in honour of you two. In total, there were around 500 rallies," He explained contently.

"Oh my God," Quote whispered to himself.

"When this all started, the whole world was watching. Obviously, everyone had their pick on who they wanted to win. However, the audiences were affixed to a promising duo, a tag-team that annihilated all who opposed them, and the world was so awestruck by them that most of them couldn't help but root for them. I think you two can guess who the duo were now," He said.

"But, what about...?" Curly asked uncomfortably.

"Nothing's changed. After learning of it all they all think you did the right thing. They still think of you as heroes," He responded.

Hearing this, for the first time since the end of the battle, Quote couldn't help but crack a smile.

Curly, meanwhile, was over the moon.

As he processed the information and watched Curly's excitement, his smile continued to widen, until he couldn't help it anymore.

He broke out laughing.

Eventually, they both calmed down, and Dr. Sakamoto took a deep breath.

"So, are you ready to become superhumans now?" He asked contently.

"Absolutely!" Curly exclaimed.

"As for you, Quote?" The doctor inquired.

Quote smirked.

"I've never been more ready in my life," He stated.

The doctor grinned.

"Just what I wanted to hear. I'll come tomorrow at nine AM to bring you to the operating rooms. Be ready by then," He ordered, then left.

Quote chuckled.

Years ago, if someone ever told him this was what his future had in store for him, he'd have laughed and probably yelled at the person to shove off.

Curly would've probably laughed, too, if she was ever foretold this to be her future.

And yet here they stood, feeling like they were standing on top of the world.

Yes, what they did was wrong. They knew this. But nobody is perfect, and everyone else was letting the past be the past.

Now it was time for them to let go of the past and strive for the future, because the future was nearly there.

They'd need to be ready for what it would bring with it.


	13. Chapter 12: Upgrade

Chapter 12: Upgrade

**A/N: Welp, here we go. I kinda had to wing it a bit for this chapter, so if it seems of... well... low quality, I guess, then I apologize. On another note, there's only like 1/3 of the story left for me to write, although it is the part I mentally constructed the least of, so it may be kind of, well, mediocre. I still haven't decided what to do with a sequel yet. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN.**

The next day, as promised, Dr. Sakamoto came knocking on their door at 9 AM. However, they were already up and waiting.

He led them deep into the complex, _very _deep down. Both soldiers realized that it must've been the part of the complex where the research was done.

Eventually, the group of three stopped at 2 separate doors.

"The operating rooms are here. Enter when you're ready," He said blankly, then sighed. "This will be the last time you see me. I bid you two farewell, and I pray for your success."

Before either of them could reply, he walked away hurriedly.

He didn't even give them a chance to say goodbye.

No, surely they'd see him again after it was all over. Surely.

Their thoughts turned back to what laid ahead of them.

'Enter when you're ready.'

It was then they both realized how nervous they were, and rightfully so.

But there was no backing out now, and they knew it.

They turned to eachother, and Curly smiled.

"Well, I guess we'll be seeing eachother again soon enough," She said light-heartedly.

Quote smirked, then nodded.

"I suppose so," He said.

Silence.

He sighed.

"Well, we probably shouldn't keep them waiting," He muttered, and she nodded slowly.

He looked at her, and saw a look of pure concern on her face.

Then, he pushed his own skepticism down and smiled at her.

"Don't worry," He said, "It'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

She smirked and nodded, and then they both walked over to the doors.

"See you soon," She said, and he nodded.

They both walked into their respective operating rooms, which were completely identical in every way, shape, and form.

They were both large metal rooms with various machinery, monitoring equipment, and other devices neither of them could recognize dotted about.

However, in the center of the rooms laid a single large machine that took up most of the room's space, with cavities in the center, just big enough for a human body to fit inside.

It almost looked like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. Or a superhero movie. Perhaps both.

Quote sighed, and in her room, Curly frowned.

A doctor grabbed a microphone and tested it to see if it was working, before clearing his throat.

"Climb into the central cavity of the machine," They ordered, and they both nodded and walked toward the machines.

"_Ahem... _but do be careful not to break anything," They demanded condescendingly.

They both had the same reaction, rolling their eyes and nodding.

On the back of the machines were some platforms that looked like stairs, so they both climbed into the machines, which closed behind them.

"Very good. You will now be administered an anesthetic gas to put you to sleep," The doctor said over their microphone, and sure enough, they could hear gas begin to pump into the chambers.

Hardly a minute later and they were both completely unconscious.

...

_Some time later..._

"General!"

A grumbling noise.

"What is it?!"

"Uhm... it's very bad news!"

"What do you mean, 'bad news'?!"

"W-we've discovered that two soldiers are going through an experiment-"

"And? Why should I care about two pathetic runts becoming guinea pigs to some idiotic test?"

"... It's not just any experiment, sir, and they're not just two random soldiers..."

"Hmph, _now_ you have my interest. Elaborate."

"The soldiers are two of the most elite soldiers on the planet. They both have hundreds, maybe thousands of confirmed kills under their belts, and the experiment, if it succeeds... well, sir... they'll become superhumans, definitely strong enough to destroy the object that you so furiously desire."

Silence, then a deep breath.

"This cannot be allowed to happen."

"Your orders, sir?"

"We cannot let them know that we're onto them. Send every single drone we have to that damned place! Tear it to pieces if it means finding that crown! I will not fail now!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

Quote woke up feeling dazed, weak, and confused. When he opened his eyes, he immediately had to shield his eyes from a glare of light.

Eventually, when his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around and saw himself laying on a bed.

He sat up in the bed before trying to stand up, but felt dizzy.

"Oh, you're awake," He heard a feminine voice say, and looked behind him to see a nurse standing there.

He was about to ask where he was, and where Curly was, but was interrupted before he could even speak.

"You're in a recovery room, and your partner is in one a few doors down," The nurse said.

"So... this must be the hospital wing of this complex?" He asked, his speech slightly slurred.

The nurse nodded.

"I'd suggest you wait a few minutes before trying to get up. Your body is likely still getting accustomed to itself," She advised.

He didn't think it was anything to worry about, as he wasn't feeling dizzy anymore. So, he stood up and turned to the door while the nurse merely chuckled to herself.

He ran toward the door, but he burst toward it _**WAY **_faster than he intended to and consequently faceplanted into it.

He fell backward with a shout, and somehow cut his hand on a small sharp edge on the bed post.

The nurse laughed.

"Hey, I did warn you," She said humorously, "However, I'm surprised you were able to stand so quickly. Quite impressive, Mr. Marck."

He slowly stood back up and found himself in front of a mirror. He looked at it and froze at what he saw.

Where his ears were, there were now antennae. His entire skin, bleach white. He looked down at his hand, and his jaw dropped to see that the cut was blue instead of crimson.

"Wh-wha..." He stammered.

"That's your new look. Love it or hate it, you'll have to get used to it," The nurse stated.

He looked back at himself in the mirror, and saw his hat missing.

"Where is-?" He said, and the nurse handed him his cap, his green scarf, and some bandages for his hand.

He put his trusty cap and scarf on, bandaged his hand, then examined himself in the mirror.

A smile slowly crept onto his face.

Yeah, blue blood and bleach-white skin was definitely weird, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't think he looked better with the green antenna and ghostly skin.

The door opened beside him, and he stepped out of the way very quickly before it could smack him in the face.

A doctor walked into the room and raised an eyebrow at seeing Quote standing there.

"My, what a quick recovery," The doctor said, "Sergeant Brace is awake. I imagine you'd like to see her."

Quote nodded.

"As expected. Follow me," The doctor muttered, and then led him down a hallway and into another recovery room.

The door closed behind him as he walked in, and he froze yet again.

Curly was sitting on another bed, with the same bleach-white skin and green antennae for ears.

She hazily looked at him and smiled.

"Hey," She greeted.

Unsure of how to reply, he merely smirked and nodded.

"You're looking good today," She said humorously, and he chuckled.

"I could say the same for you," He replied.

She chuckled groggily, then frowned.

"I definitely don't feel like it," She grumbled, "Did you feel really tired when you woke up?"

"Yes, and because of it I faceplanted into a door," He muttered.

She snickered and stifled a giggle with her arm.

"Yes, yes, hilarious, I know," He said, faking sarcasm.

Silence.

"Do you still feel weak now?" Quote asked, sitting down next to her.

"Kinda," She answered somberly, "I think it's gonna be awhile before I can do anything."

He smiled.

"Don't worry," He reassured her, "I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes."

Hearing this, she smiled.


	14. Chapter 13: Another Mission

Chapter 13: Another Mission

**A/N: **_**HUZZAH!**_

**I'm back! How long has it been since I updated this story? Like 2 or 3 months?**

**Hehe, yeah... about that...**

**There was no real reason for it, I'm afraid. I just lost any and all interest in Cave Story and subsequently any interest to continue this story.**

**I didn't forget about it, though. I **_**wanted **_**to return to it, but I never had the time. Or rather, when I did, I didn't feel like writing. Catch 22.**

**I dunno if I'll go back to a regular update schedule for this story. I will be putting out one or two more chapters soon, but after that I dunno. This chapter is... a bit shorter than what I'd normally make, as it's rather filler material for something much bigger.**

**But yeah, sorry for the unannounced hiatus, and enjoy.**

Quote stayed with her for another hour until she was strong enough to stand. Worried that she'd hurt herself like he did, he offered to guide her back to their room, which she accepted gladly. They spent the rest of the day just watching television and talking.

The next day, one of the few remaining officers at the complex told them that they'd be staying for awhile to get used to their new bodies. It made sense to them, so they were fine with it.

They decided to race eachother to their old training area to test their run speed.

It was a short and close race. They crossed the entire complex very quickly and it would've taken a very high speed camera to see who would've won.

However, Quote decided to just let Curly take the victory.

Quote attempted to punch a punching bag, but to his shock it tore wide open from the abuse. As one would expect, Curly laughed at him.

Curly took her trusty machine gun and fired it. She already had extremely good aim beforehand, but she nailed every shot now.

They also found a way to communicate with eachother using their antennae (although completely by accident). When they did so, Curly jokingly said that he'd never be able to escape her again, to which he responded by jokingly making it seem like the end of the world, making her laugh harder than ever before.

A week passed. They got used to their new bodies, yet there seemed to be no sign of them leaving soon.

It was odd, very odd. They'd both gotten used to their new abilities. They were completely back to normal... no, better than normal.

Because of all this, they began to feel a bit like prisoners, and it made them extremely antsy.

They were sitting on their sofa one day, mindlessly watching television, when they just had enough.

"Seriously, why are we still here?" Curly complained, "We should be on the way to destroy the Demon Crown right now!"

Quote nodded slowly.

"I don't get it either," He muttered, "I'm sure they have a good reason for it, though. Perhaps it's too dangerous to send us to the island right now. Or maybe something urgent has happened and they don't have the time to get us there yet. Who knows?"

"We should really ask someone," She suggested.

He nodded again.

"Yes... we should. We've been here for way too long, good reason or not," He grumbled.

With their minds made up, they left the room to look for someone to ask about.

The complex was quite a bit emptier now that everything was done with, so it took them half an hour to actually find someone high-ranking enough to complain to.

However, it was just their luck that they managed to find one of the officers running the operation.

They approached the officer, who turned to them emotionlessly.

"Sergeants? Is there an issue?" The officer asked.

"Yeah, what's taking so long?" Curly asked.

The officer smirked.

"Funny you mention that," They said, "You leave tomorrow."

"For the island?" Quote asked.

The officer shook their head.

"Well... that would be the case, but things have changed," They stated, "You're not heading for your mission just yet. Rather... you're getting another one. At least for a bit."

"Why?" They both asked irritably.

"This project costed trillions of dollars. Where do you think the majority of that money came from?" The officer asked.

They looked at eachother, neither knowing the answer.

"Taxes," They answered, "Lots of them, too. The people want to see the results of what _their money_ was spent on."

"What are you saying?" Curly asked.

"I'm saying that you two better not have stage fright, cause you're about to be put on one in front of millions of people," The officer stated.

"What?" Quote said, "You're joking, right?"

One look from the officer told him that they were dead serious.

For once, they were _both _speechless.

"Also, another thing, because of the sudden change of plans, a friend of yours will be coming with you," The officer said, "Does that answer your questions? Because I'm very busy."

Quote nodded slowly.

Satisfied, the officer left.

The two supersoldiers turned to eachother with looks of 'What just happened?' on their faces.

Then Curly grinned from ear to ear.

"Can you believe it, Quote?! We'll actually be able to meet all of our fans!" She beamed, "Ah! I'm so excited!"

Quote chuckled nervously.

"Yeah... glad you are..." He muttered.

She frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"We're going to be put in front of _**MILLIONS **_of people! That's ludicrous!" He shouted.

"So... you're nervous?" She guessed.

"I'm freaking terrified!" He yelled.

She chuckled and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. We'll be doing this together," She said, "Just follow my lead, okay?"

He slowly came to his senses and nodded.

"Yeah... at least I won't be alone for this," He said, then smiled. "You're a good friend, Curly Brace. I'm glad I met you."

She smiled more and hugged him.

"And the same to you," She replied.

They spent the rest of the day training themselves and just having fun.

They both knew it would probably be the last time they'd get to for awhile.


End file.
